So I was checking out my paycheck this morning and it began to sink in that 25% of my income goes to the government. I've known that since the day I received my first paycheck but that knowledge morphed into something a bit different for some reason today. After that 25% of my (and everyone else's, paycheck) gets taken by the government, it then gets (we assume) distributed to areas of Federal expenditure which have a delegated percentage requirement for all of our taxable income. Makes sense. What doesn’t make sense is that the Federal Deficit continues to grow due to a lack of financial responsibility with the money that is taken from the citizens; meaning the government is taking our money, blowing it on shit that we can’t afford, then getting into debt (which has accruing interest to be the burden of our children) with the other lenders it needs to seek into order to fund its expenditures. A household could not function under this balance sheet. Anyone can stand back and take a look at the simplistic nature of economics by peering into their own wallet and realizing that if they only make 500 dollars a week, and they need to spend 700 dollars a week, they are going to need to use a credit card or cut the fat from their expenses in order to stay afloat. Instead of cutting the fat, the government is in the habit of using credit in the forms of overseas lending, domestic sales of bonds to private holders, and even initiating additional taxes which tax its citizens again on money that was initially taxed upon earning. For example, if you make money (in addition to your initial investment) on the sale of a house, or the sale of a stock, you are expected to pay an additional 25% tax (assuming your tax income rate is 25%). That means that smart Americans who have invested the money they’ve earned (essentially benefitting the local/national/global economy) are then penalized on the return they receive for the risk they took to stimulate the economy. AND THEN, that money is mismanaged by a National government who removes that money from the local economy to spend on a black-hole National debt which cannot be feasibly paid off in this, or the next five generation’s, lifetimes. “Hey Daris, we know this already. What’s the point?”
The Point.
If the government has gotten us into such a goddamn disaster with our economic outlook using my (and your) money, and I will NOT benefit from the continued taxation I receive from my government, I don’t want to pay taxes anymore. I mean, if we’re going to go down in the financial flames of a teenager with an AMEX card, then I want to make sure I get that little shit to buy me something sweet before the Feds come to arrest him. However, should I withdraw from my civic “duty” of taxation, I would simply be adding to the burden of some other sap’s taxes to house me in Federal Prison. So, I propose that the government allow every tax payer the right to designate 25% of their adjusted tax percentage to an area of their choosing. I would continue to pay taxes knowing that 25% of my taxes (approx 6% of my income) the government is slipping out of my pocket was going somewhere that it will do the most good; not to some 30 million dollar military training exercise in San Diego (almost 25% of the National Budget is allocated to “Defense” by the way), or to pay for someone who didn’t plan for their own retirement. Side bar – I don’t believe in Social Security; if you didn’t have the foresight to save for your elderly self, tough shit, looks like you’re working until you die. If I knew that I could allocate 6% of my income to a local, worthy, entity (it could even be a state government program); I would have no problem paying my taxes with a smile. If the Federal Government wants to shoot itself in the foot, pushing responsibility down the river until the tides of change grip the U.S.A., go for it. But I promise you this: my local economy will not be on that sinking ship. Citizens are responsible on a per capita basis, but once our money is put into the hands of a number crunching, heartless, corporation-like entity, the humanity of the world is compromised and the cogs in the machine (taxpayers) are forgotten.
Just my two cents.
Which were taxed upon distribution.
